With the recent discussion of the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks being a rivalry, I decided to do a little research to determine if this is a rivalry or not, at least in recent years. We all know about the New York and Boston rivalry that stems from the Red Sox and Yankees, and more recently Jets and Patriots. When talking about basketball though, that is a different story.

“It’s a rivalry?” Paul Pierce said. “You all are letting me in on all the new stuff. I didn’t know we had a rivalry going.”

“I don’t know what that is, the whole rivalry thing, because it really hasn’t been one,” Doc Rivers coach of the Celtics said. “We both were bad for a while, we’ve been good for a while. The two teams haven’t exactly matched for a long time.”

Both teams were pretty bad from 2001-2006, with the Knicks continuing to be bad until this season in which they have a 16-9 record. Having said this, bad teams don’t make for rivalries, as no one can remember any memorable games between the two, nor can anyone think of any high stake games such as playoff series.

Boston

New York

Season

Wins

Losses

Wins

Losses

2010-2011

19

4

16

9

2009-2010

50

32

29

53

2008-2009

62

20

32

50

2007-2008

66

16

23

59

2006-2007

24

58

33

49

2005-2006

33

49

23

59

2004-2005

45

37

33

49

2003-2004

36

46

39

43

2002-2003

44

38

37

45

2001-2002

49

33

30

52

2000-2001

36

46

48

34

464

379

343

502

55%

41%

This is what Wiki had to say on the NBA Rivalry, as you can see, they don’t really state that it is a rivalry except for the basic location facts should imply it would be one.

Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks

These are two of the only remaining teams from the original 1946 NBA (the other is the Golden State Warriors, who, while in Philadelphia, were also great rivals with both teams; both rivalries died down once the Warriors moved west).

This rivalry attributes and stems from the rivalry between New York City and Boston, as well as the bigger Yankees – Red Sox rivalry in Major League Baseball. The fact that Boston and New York City are only three and a half hours away also contributes to the Knicks-Celtics rivalry, which is also seen between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots in the National Football League and Boston Bruins-New York Rangers in the NHL.

Below is the head to head records with the points scored each season between these two ball clubs, as you can see the Celtics have won 30 out of the last 41 games verses the Knicks, and average almost 6 points per game more. Granted that beat down of 104-59 (Boxscore) inflated the stats a little bit.

Season

Boston

PTS

New York

PTS

2010-2011

1

105

0

101

2009-2010

3

427

1

412

2008-2009

3

432

1

406

2007-2008

4

423

0

348

2006-2007

3

398

1

403

2005-2006

3

425

1

398

2004-2005

3

414

1

383

2003-2004

1

335

3

359

2002-2003

4

418

0

372

2001-2002

4

400

0

366

2000-2001

1

372

3

384

30

4149

11

3932

101.2

95.9

Clearly, Paul Pierce is right when he was confused as to why this was viewed as a Rivalry for the up coming game. However, do not be surprised is this match up becomes a rivalry in the near future.